Dog poo has long been a scourge on pavements and fields – the sound of the squelch means the next ten minutes are spent looking for the nearest stick to use as a makeshift scraper.
In fact, there are approximately eight million dogs in the UK, and for the first time in ten years a rise in dog fouling has been reported.
The messy problem has prompted the launch of the Big Scoop campaign, backed by Andrew Gwynne, MP for Denton and Reddish, which will raise the awareness of responsible dog ownership.
Gwynne said: “It would seem that some dog owners have got the ‘bag it’ half of the message, but not the ‘bin it’ part.
“This has in recent months become a bigger issue both in terms of people contacting my office directly about dog fouling and in casework that I pick up when I am out on the doorstep in Denton and Reddish.
“The complaints tend not to just be about dog mess left on pavements and open spaces, but also about bags of dog mess being thrown into bushes and trees.”
A staggering 64% of people consider dog fouling the most offensive litter item, which has prompted the Big Scoop initiative which will be launched on Friday.
Together with the Dogs Trust, Keep Britain Tidy and celebrity campaigner Ben Fogle, it will urge people not only to collect their dog mess but dispose of it properly too.
Big Scoop will engage with children, councils and park wardens – even asking kids to show their support and don specially designed capes transforming them into ‘scooper heroes’.
Or ‘poopermen’, MM suggests.
Ben Fogle said thousands of pounds are spent each year on ensuring public spaces are kept clean and this could all be so much easier if dog owners remembered the simple message to ‘bag it, bin it.’
“Sadly it’s becoming a recurring sight to see bags of dog mess hanging from tree branches, fences, gates, basically anywhere but in a bin,” he said.
“It’s a two-step process and one which all dog owners need to be on board with. After all we all know that the Dog Poo Fairy doesn’t exist!”
Mr Gwynne became involved in the campaign when Dogs Trust approached all MPs to ask whether the issue of dog fouling was affecting their constituents and the feedback was a resounding ‘yes’.
Activity will start on June 14th and Scooper Heroes and council led activities will be arranged to garner support for The Big Scoop. To find out more please visit www.thebigscoop.org.uk.
Picture courtesy of Rollan Budi, with thanks.
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